1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a rail system for an overhead hoist system suspended from the rail system, and wherein the rail system includes a primary rail which is a four-edged profile with hollow cross-section and a longitudinal slot at the bottom, which the slot and the hollow cross-section are adapted for receiving and supporting part of the suspended hoist system.
2. Description of Related Art
Hoisting systems for internally moving persons is an important part of the equipment in e.g., a hospital or a nursing home. These enable moving entirely or partially immobile patients or inhabitants between their bed, toilet, bath or other place of stay, without the care assistants having to do heavy lifting.
Hoisting systems of this type often consist of an overhead rail system with a trolley that enables horizontal displacement, and a hoisting system suspended from the trolley that enables vertical displacement. A lifting apron is put on the person, and the lifting apron is connected to the hoisting system, typically via lifting bracket.
The hoisting system is provided with one or more motors for performing the vertical movement. Moreover, the trolley can be connected with one or more motors performing the horizontal movement. Alternatively, horizontal movement can be effected manually by a care assistant pushing the hoisting system or the person to be moved.
Operation of the various functions is performed by the care assistant or the person himself via a control on the hoisting system or a handheld control unit.
Examples of such hoisting systems are known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,237,491 B2 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,195 B1.
The rail system is mounted directly on or immediately under the ceiling in order to achieve the greatest possible lifting height. Such installations do not appear very well integrated with the remaining building interior. Therefore, it is desirable to integrate the rail system in the building already during construction of the latter.
By solutions, where the ceiling in the building is lowered and provided with loose boards resting on a network of wood strips, it is not always practical to install a rail system, since the network of wood strips has to be interrupted where the support rail goes through. Thus it is difficult to install the support rail such that the underside of the support rail and the ceiling are in the same plane. For aesthetical and hygienic reasons, it is suitable that the ceiling appears as a surface which is only broken by the slot in the support rail so that the gap between the ceiling boards and the support rail is also avoided.